I have a 55g which is filled with synthetic(resin) coral and rocks from an aquarium store. Right now, there are no fish, only 5 hermit crabs that have been cycling the tank for almost 2 months.
Meanwhile, I had 4 fish in q. I gave them 3 formalin baths every 3 days changing out 100% of the water each time. After 3 weeks, I thought they looked ready (no visual parasites). So I needed to top off my main tank and do a water change for the first time to get a desired salinity. I put in about 5 gallons of saltwater (filtered) and 5 gallons of tap(w/ tetra conditioner).
I acclimated them to the 55 in a 5 gallon bucket with 1/4 water full. I dripped in water from the main tank for about an hour, but only till it got half full( I know, not enough
). The q tank water was at 36ppt, and the main tank was at 31. As soon as the fish were placed in, they looked right at home, already picking off algae from the rocks. So I watched for a while and there were no signs of stress at all. Surprisingly, 3 hours later, I came back to look and ALL of the fish breathing very rapidly, with one lying on the sand. I then put them back into the quarantine tank. Sadly, they all died either that night or the next day.
So now I'm clueless as to why my fish were shocked like that. It can't be physical things like temp or salinity because they werent initially panicking right? I'm thinking something related to the chemistry of the water.
I talked to a few very reliable sources, and some ideas were
1. I acclimated with too little water changes
2. rocks might be releasing toxic substances
3. synthetic corals may be toxic. (they had/still have a strong resin smell, even though I soaked them in fw for 3 days)
4. my big rocks are blocking the ug filter area, causing anaerobic areas.
5. using tap water
If you have any idea what's going on, please let me know!
Sorry this turned into a novel, but I wanted to make sure I didn't leave out any details, as each one may be the cause!
Meanwhile, I had 4 fish in q. I gave them 3 formalin baths every 3 days changing out 100% of the water each time. After 3 weeks, I thought they looked ready (no visual parasites). So I needed to top off my main tank and do a water change for the first time to get a desired salinity. I put in about 5 gallons of saltwater (filtered) and 5 gallons of tap(w/ tetra conditioner).
I acclimated them to the 55 in a 5 gallon bucket with 1/4 water full. I dripped in water from the main tank for about an hour, but only till it got half full( I know, not enough
). The q tank water was at 36ppt, and the main tank was at 31. As soon as the fish were placed in, they looked right at home, already picking off algae from the rocks. So I watched for a while and there were no signs of stress at all. Surprisingly, 3 hours later, I came back to look and ALL of the fish breathing very rapidly, with one lying on the sand. I then put them back into the quarantine tank. Sadly, they all died either that night or the next day. So now I'm clueless as to why my fish were shocked like that. It can't be physical things like temp or salinity because they werent initially panicking right? I'm thinking something related to the chemistry of the water.
I talked to a few very reliable sources, and some ideas were
1. I acclimated with too little water changes
2. rocks might be releasing toxic substances
3. synthetic corals may be toxic. (they had/still have a strong resin smell, even though I soaked them in fw for 3 days)
4. my big rocks are blocking the ug filter area, causing anaerobic areas.
5. using tap water
If you have any idea what's going on, please let me know!
Sorry this turned into a novel, but I wanted to make sure I didn't leave out any details, as each one may be the cause!
